Against BJP MLA crime branch begins corruption probe in Tripura

Agartala: Tripura Police’s Crime Branch Unit (Economic Offenses) has started an investigation into the allegations of corruption raised in connection with the acquisition of Notingcherra tea estate land at Pabiacherra under Unakoti district of Tripura, Chief Minister Dr. Manik said. Saha told the Tripura Assembly.
Serious allegations were leveled against BJP MLA Pabiachhara Bhagaban Das and some people from the area, who tried to manipulate the land acquisition process for national highways and misused funds.
The crime branch is investigating the matter. All aspects of the case are being examined very carefully,” the Chief Minister told the House of Assembly while replying to a starred question tabled by Congress MLA Birajit Sinha.
In his question, Sinha wanted to know the current status of the case where an MLA of the ruling party is allegedly involved. “BJP MLA Bhagaban Das wrote a letter to the branch manager of the local bank asking him to release the frozen funds based on the complaint,” Sinha said.
On the other hand, CPIM MLA Jitendra Choudhary said that the involvement of a legislator in this matter is shocking and hence the investigation needs to be done properly.
The Chief Minister assured both the MLAs that the Crime Branch would investigate the entire matter and those involved in the matter would be punished.
When contacted, rebel BJP leader Ranjan Sinha from Chandipur, who contested the last election on a Tipra Motha ticket, told that it was a “planned robbery” of public money that was met with timely response from the revenue department. Stopped due to
He said that the tea garden in question was owned by a chit fund company which had left the state in 2011-12. After their departure, the tea garden workers of the area were facing a tough time for their survival.
“After the BJP government came to power in 2018, I took the initiative to form a cooperative society of tea garden workers to run the tea garden smoothly. A major portion was acquired by NHIDCL for the proposed national highway. A total of Rs 8.5 crore was sanctioned by the authorities for the land acquired there,” said Sinha.
The real problem started after that, he explained. Mosabbir Ali, a former employee of the tea garden, claimed that he was the owner of the garden and all operations came under his direct control. He submitted all the supporting documents which were later found to be fake and tried to embezzle the funds sanctioned for the tea garden authorities. He further said that an amount of Rs.58 lakh was also released.
“When I came to know about the misappropriation of funds, I took up the matter with the then revenue minister. Accordingly, the account in which the money was deposited was frozen.
But within a week Mosabbir Ali’s account was accessed. When I inquired about it, I was told by the bank that local MLA Bhagaban Das had written a letter to the branch manager in his pad to give access to the account.
All these issues were raised before the authorities concerned and a probe was ordered. “Crime branch officials met me in connection with the investigation. I have submitted all the documents to support my statement.
My point is that since the tea garden workers are responsible for tea production and other work there, they should get the money,” said Sinha.